Sell or rent

Author
Discussion

drab1

Original Poster:

74 posts

87 months

Wednesday 22nd February 2017
quotequote all
What should we do with this property:

We don't live in it, currently rented
Mortgage remaining is £92k
Repayment mortgage at 2.5% fixed until Jun-17
Monthly mortgage is £374
It rents for around £600 a month
If it's empty we pay around £150 council tax and £30 factor fee a month
Property is valued at £145k
It's in Aberdeen, market is still pretty ropey to say the least

We have no savings to play with and don't earn a lot. When we first started renting it the market was pretty good and it let for £900 a month but it's been a slog for the past year now

drab1

Original Poster:

74 posts

87 months

Wednesday 22nd February 2017
quotequote all
Hi Sonie

The flat was empty for about 6 months last year and we coped, it was just a stressful headache to have. The reason I'm struggling to know what to do is that I'm unsure if it's even a good long term investment anymore. At the time it seemed like a great idea....

drab1

Original Poster:

74 posts

87 months

Wednesday 22nd February 2017
quotequote all
600-375 sounds alright but by the time we've paid the additional insurance, tax on the rental income, factor fee, general maintenance and wear and tear etc, I'm not sure it's actually a good investment.

drab1

Original Poster:

74 posts

87 months

Thursday 23rd February 2017
quotequote all
Thank you for your thoughts. We're under no illusions about the state of the Aberdeen market, which is a big reason why it's so difficult to know what to do..

In terms of costs when rented it's quite minimal, just over £400 per month all in.

If we did sell, the money would be used primarily to extend / renovate our house.

ITP said:
On a 'today' basis you could say sell, invest 53k and if you got 3% for the next 25 years it would be worth 110k putting no extra in.
Or, if tenants cover all your mortgage/repair costs over 25 years you should be quids in, as it's worth 145k now, so it would have to be worth 30k less in 25 years.
I think this is the kind of long term thinking which i need to consider but I don't understand it! Long day sorry

drab1

Original Poster:

74 posts

87 months

Monday 1st January 2018
quotequote all
By way of an update-

We did try to continue renting but the market was just too difficult for us. Our tenant wasn't great in paying which didn't help, and the ongoing maintenance which was needed at the same time as having a young baby was a major headache.

We put it on the market for just under value, had about 1 viewing a week and sold it to first time buyers after around 8 weeks. It was definitely the right decision for us at the moment and we couldn't be happier. Judging by some of the developments rumoured at my work the market might be slower in picking up than originally thought so I consider us pretty lucky